Welcome once more to Gallery 23 in Balzan, one of the places where artists and art lovers meet in a world where colour, form, and texture converge to tell stories untold and express emotions unspoken. It is a welcoming gallery and now familiar ground to me. That is the only place I meet some people including Doris and her welcoming smile and always ready with a plateful of delicious canapés, to make sure my Michelin tyres stay put.
The Gallery's latest exhibition, Land and Sea, invites us on a journey through the creative minds of Christopher Saliba, Henry Falzon and Marisa Attard, whose art is familiar and admired. Marisa is also much sought after as a book illustrator. The latest of her works that I have seen and enjoyed are found in Nicholas de Piro's Let's Face It, a collection of poems illustrated by her.
In this exhibition she continues to show us her talents and not only her artistic ones but also her sense of wit and humour which she displays in every piece of work she does. It is always charming.
Each piece of art hanging on the wall is a window into the artist's unique world, to challenge, delight, and inspire. As you step into this space, allow yourself to be transported by the power of art that transcends the canvas and becomes a shared experience of human connection.
Henry Falzon comments thus on this exhibition. "In this exhibition Land & Sea, I take on the sea aspect unashamedly. My focus is on capturing moments around Malta and Gozo's coast, inviting the viewer to look and look again."
At first glance his works look photographic, but soon one realises that there are deeper qualities. The colours are placed carefully but not too precisely. The compositions state a narrative or story that latches onto the viewers own personal experiences, positive or less so as it may be."
Overall, Henry's seas are all in different shades of blue (and sometimes in other hues), teasing out a hint of emotion awaiting further explanation. What could be more familiar to us Maltese if not the sea, the Middle Sea, in its many moods, the sea of all civilization. The sea of Christianity.
As to Christopher Saliba's paintings which are so striking and colourful, he comments that his artistic journey has been "one of evolution and exploration, moving from a structured approach towards a more expressive one. I delve into landscape painting, particularly emphasising the atypical colour red to express my inner world, pushing the boundaries of representation even further. My paintings, though captivating from an aesthetic point of view, serve as a poignant expression of my environmental concerns, portraying the tragic reality of local landscape threatened by insistent speculation and urbanisation." He is a Gozitan artist par excellence and his paintings are large and powerful. They are also free of human beings with no one jostling for space. What a change from the reality of our over-crowded existence.
Perhaps it would not be out of place to name Christopher Saliba "The Man who Loved Gozo" even if this title belongs to Henry Majo Bateman (1887-1970), the artist who painted Gozo, after retiring there. He is buried in Ta' Braxia Cemetery, Pietà.
Land and Sea is open until 26 April. Sundays: 11am to 12.30pm; Wednesdays: 6.30pm to 8.00pm or By Appointment: 99428272
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